Ptolemaic Solar System.  CELLARIUS, Andreas.  [Amsterdam, 1660]  Planisphaerium Ptolemaicum… 17 3/8 x 20 5/8 inches.  Full rich original color heightened with gold; bottom of centerfold reinforced, else a fine example.  In a fine, archival, gold-leaf frame.
                                                
A spectacular example of the first state of the first plate to appear in Cellarius’ Harmonia Macrocosmica, considered the finest celestial atlas ever published.  Its superb original color heightened with gold is of the most lavish type to found on a Cellarius chart. The engraving is not only among Cellarius’ most visually powerful, but it also lays out the starting point of all cosmography. It depicts an earth-centered solar system with elaborate representations of the planets, moon and sun.  Saturn, the most distant planet visible to the naked eye, is the outermost planet shown.  Astronomers are pictured in the lower corners with maps, atlases, globes and various instruments.  The figures have tentatively been identified as Ptolemy himself at the right and Aristotle of Stagira at left.

Cellarius' charts were striking for their innovative designs that attempted to depict complex astronomical principles.  Some, for example, artfully create the illusion of constellations superimposed on the earth as if viewed from outer space.  Also, several create a sense of three-dimensionality to illustrate certain concepts.  Cellarius' Harmonia can also be seen as a celebration and explication of advances in astronomy and cosmology effected by Copernicus, Galileo and Brahe.  While the Netherlands was not a center of astronomical learning at the time, the Dutch, nevertheless, played a key role in advancing knowledge in the field.  It was there at the beginning of the 17th Century that a scientifically useful telescope was developed.  Moreover, it was Dutch navigators venturing to the lower latitudes who identified several previously unobserved constellations that are not visible in the Northern Hemisphere.  The result was visually delightful images that mingle complex astronomical data, portraits of important astronomers, and illustrations of instruments with playful, baroque ornamentation.  Despite the evident success of Cellarius' charts in his day and their enduring appeal, he remains an obscure figure.  He was a provincial academic, the Rector of the Latin School at Hoorn.
Van Gent, R. H. Andreas Cellarius, p. 29; Stott, pp. 12-13.

Price: $9,500.00